Quick question

jahsoul

How is everyone doing? First off, I never thought that I would be in this subforum EVER but I find myself here now because I've decided to change my major at WGU from Security to Network Admin. (MCITP: Server Admin just incase anyone didn't know) From what I've been reading, Microsoft changed the test without putting out adequate material (i.e. Cisco and the CCNP-Voice track..smh). My question is would buying the Server 2008 R2 Unleashed book and setting up a good lab environment be enough or would I still have to thumb through the Microsoft Press books? Thanks in advanced.

ehnde

jahsoul wrote: »

How is everyone doing? First off, I never thought that I would be in this subforum EVER but I find myself here now because I've decided to change my major at WGU from Security to Network Admin. (MCITP: Server Admin just incase anyone didn't know) From what I've been reading, Microsoft changed the test without putting out adequate material (i.e. Cisco and the CCNP-Voice track..smh). My question is would buying the Server 2008 R2 Unleashed book and setting up a good lab environment be enough or would I still have to thumb through the Microsoft Press books? Thanks in advanced.

Bachelor Degree in IT Network Administration | WGU College of Information Technology Online

Is this your degree program? I'm going to take the 70-640 sometime in April, so I'm wondering the same thing myself.

jahsoul

Yep....that's it. I'm not trying to rush it but I'm going to read and lab all term and then start trying for exams close to the end but in 5 months, I would have read the book twice over and had some serious labbing but because it isn't an exam guide, I wouldn't know where to gauge myself for the specific exams. (if that makes sense)

LCA

jahsoul wrote: »

My question is would buying the Server 2008 R2 Unleashed book and setting up a good lab environment be enough or would I still have to thumb through the Microsoft Press books? Thanks in advanced.

Setting up a good lab environment is of course essential but just reading one book won't give you enough knowledge to learn all the topics. You will need to read Technet articles (there are sticky threads at the top of the Windows Server 2008 forum for all the exams). Reading the Server 2008 resource kit books isn't a bad idea either especially the one on Active Directory and the Certificates/PKI one.

Good luck and enjoy the journey......

Essendon

LCA is spot-on with the advice. TechNet is a mustread, you may also want to go through another resource too. The Active Directory Resource Kit is good, and so is the Mastering 2008 R2 book by Mark Minasi. Couple these resources with a decent lab running a couple DC's, a couple Remote Desktop servers and other stuff and you are set.

MickQ

I second (third?) what the other guys have said. Lab it to the max - practice!!!! Nothing worse than having someone with a cert walk in the door and not really knowing what they're poking at.
The books are great for getting an idea of what you should see, how it works and should give you a solid foundation for learning and playing with systems.
Technet is a must if you have any questions about something, but it's also a necessity for reading up on different topics on the exams. Even if you don't (or can't) put all the bells and whistles into your lab system, you can read through the tech and understand what's going on and (more importantly) the how and why.

As a side note, it's nice to see a degree giving a practical side to their course. Mine had a strong liking for programming languages. (11 in 4 years).